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October 25, 2024RETAIL TRADE AUGUST 2024 Monthly (seasonally adjusted, August 2024 vs July 2024)
In Nova Scotia retail trade increased 0.8% to $1,799 million. Nationally, retail trade increased 0.4% to $66.6 billion. Only three provinces (British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan) reported declines in retail trade. All others reported rising retail sales, led by Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick.
Year over year (August 2024 vs August 2023)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 2.5% in August compared to the same month last year. Nationally, retail trade was up 1.4% year-over-year. Nine provinces reported year-over-year increases in retail trade, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. British Columbia reported the only decline.
Year-to-date (January-August 2024 vs January-August 2023)
Nova Scotia retail trade increased 1.8% year-to-date. Nationally, retail trade was up 0.8%. Nine provinces reported year-to-date increases in retail trade, led by Newfoundland and Labrador. British Columbia reported the only decline.
In dollar terms, motor vehicles/parts ($3,619 million), food/beverage ($2,718 million), gas stations ($2,155 million) and general merchandise stores ($1,893 million) contributed the most to Nova Scotia's retail sales from January-August 2024.
The largest year-to-date increases in percentage terms were reported in general merchandise stores and gas stations. Health/personal care stores and sports/books/hobbies/music stores recorded the largest year-to-date declines.
Trends
In recent months, Nova Scotia retail sales have been more volatile than the Canadian average (common for a smaller province) and have exceeded national retail sales growth.
E-Commerce
In August 2024, Canada's ecommerce sales decreased 2.5% compared to the previous month, delining to $3.94 billion, or 5.9% of total retail sales.
Source: Statistics Canada. Table: 20-10-0056-01, Monthly retail trade sales by province and territory (x 1,000)
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